Thousands of furious Hindus took to the streets after the Indian Government claimed that the epic that forms the cornerstone of their religious beliefs was a work of fiction. Police used teargas to disperse crowds in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, where protesters accused the Government of blasphemy. The row erupted when the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), an arm of the Culture Ministry, told the country’s highest court that there was no evidence to support the existence of the characters in the Ramayana, a revered ancient text. Nor was there any historical record that Lord Ram, one of Hinduism’s most popular heroes, was a real person or that any of the events in the epic took place.

India is a country in rapid economical and scientific progress at the moment, but with an ever-present clash between modernity and the ardent defenders of tradition. Kudos to all fellow Indian secularists, who are fighting the good fight to exorcise the demons of religious stupidity and superstition from the country. It’s not about banishing several thousand years of cultural heritage and ancient rituals, just seeing it from the right perspective – as myth, allegory and folklore.